The "Axis of Evil" in the cosmic microwave background | Unsolved Mystery

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There's a strange, unexplained feature of the Cosmic Microwave Background which seems to be aligned with the Solar System, and we don't why. Is it real or just a coincidence? And if it is real, does that mean we're missing something from our best cosmological model of the Universe? #cosmology #astrophysics

Bennett et al. (2003; announce WMAP maps and results) - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...
Eriksen et al. (2004; anisotropies in quadrupole and octupole) - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10...
Land & Magueijo (2005; dub “axis of evil”) - https://journals.aps.org/prl/pdf/10.1...

For a recent review of the tensions and anomalies in cosmology and the Cosmic Microwave Background see: - https://arxiv.org/pdf/2203.06142.pdf (p.99 for the axis of evil)

00:00 - Introduction
02:49 - What is the cosmic microwave background?
05:13 - What are "multipoles" in the CMB?
07:34 - What is the "axis of evil"?
08:42 - Possible explanations - it's not real
11:00 - Possible explanations - it is real
13:38 - Bloopers

Video filmed on a Sony ⍺7 IV

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👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford (Christ Church). I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how we know things, not just what we know. And especially, the things we still don't know. If you've ever wondered about something in space and couldn't find an answer online - you can ask me! My day job is to do research into how supermassive black holes can affect the galaxies that they live in. In particular, I look at whether the energy output from the disk of material orbiting around a growing supermassive black hole can stop a galaxy from forming stars.


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